Slovakia on Friday confirmed its readiness to host peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, despite Kyiv’s accusation that it is playing into the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin
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Ukrainian soldiers of the 1st Separate Assault Battalion Da Vinci take part in a training exercise in the Dnipropetrovsk region, on December 12, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. AFP File
Slovakia on Friday confirmed its readiness to host peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, despite Kyiv’s accusation that it is playing into the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Russian leader on Thursday called it “acceptable” for the country to become a “platform” for dialogue over the conflict, which US President-elect Donald Trump has said he could end after he takes office in January.
That prospect has raised concerns in Kyiv that a settlement could be imposed on terms favourable to Moscow, as Ukraine struggles on the battlefield.
“We offer Slovak soil for such negotiations,” Slovakia’s Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar said on Facebook, nearly three years after the start of the Russian assault on Ukraine.
Putin announced Thursday that Slovakia had offered to be a “platform” for possible peace talks and that Russia was “not against it”, praising Bratislava’s “neutral position”.
But Putin reiterated his vow that his country would achieve “all the objectives in Ukraine”.
Slovak-Russian ties
Blanar said any talks must take place “with the participation of all parties, and therefore also of Russia”, unlike a previous summit in June in Switzerland.
“We consider the statement of the Russian president as a positive signal to end this war, this bloodshed and this destruction as soon as possible,” the minister said.
He said Slovakia had told Kyiv in October that it was available to host peace talks.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is one of only a handful of European leaders who have remained close to the Kremlin. He met with Putin in Moscow on December 22, provoking an angry reaction from Kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday accused Fico of wanting to “help” Putin by continuing to import Russian gas.
Despite being a NATO and European Union member, Slovakia has moved closer to Russia since the return to power of the nationalist Fico in late 2023.
Fico has stopped all military aid to Ukraine and accuses Kyiv of jeopardising his country’s supply of Russian gas, which he wants to keep buying.
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